A couple of months ago, I started a thread on growing winecap mushrooms. I was having an issue finding wood chips in my area to put the final layer on. Lucky me, I stumbled across a tree service that dumps their chips in their yard with a sign out front that says, "Free Mulch." Lucky for me! Unlucky for me; it's 25 miles away. Lucky for me; it's a half mile from one of my routes, so I swing in once a week with my 4 empty bins and fill them. Unlucky for me; it took several weeks, as I had no idea how far these chips DON'T go! I also had to find hardwood and get it quick, as in just a few days, it will start turning to ash inside the pile. Mushrooms need fresh wood to break down themselves.
Well, both beds are now finished! One is octagonal around a maple tree, and the other is left in a natural setting in front of the house. Hey Mary, look close and you can see my bedroom window IS open, LOL.
Here's the octagon. Once the wood dries, I will stain it with Minwax red mahogany; same color I will use on my raised beds. Should be pretty.
This is the natural one underneath dogwood and redbud. LOTS of full shade for this one. It should do better than the octagon, but then again, this is all an experiment to see what works!
